Outlook Magazine - Fall 2016

ON CAMPUS

DIPLOMA AND JOBS IN HAND The careers of 1,311 students were launched in early May during commencement ceremonies at Johnson Fieldhouse. UW-Stout’s 97.3 percent employment rate means most of those graduates went right into the workforce. Here are two of those stories:

In late May, 29 UW-Stout students traveled approximately 7,390 miles to share American music with their counterparts in China. The students, 17 with the Blue Devil Jazz Project and 12 in the Chamber Choir, visited universities in Yinchuan, Guilin and Hangzhou with the help of a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State. The students were led by Jerry Hui, an assistant professor and the Chamber Choir director, and Aaron Durst, an associate professor and the Jazz Project director. “The goal of the grant was to bring American culture to places in China where American culture isn’t well-represented,” Hui said. During the three-city tour, the students performed songs about American history, especially African-American, with a focus on New Orleans-style street jazz. “Our performances were very well received,” said Durst. “It was common for our performers to spend 30-45 minutes after every performance taking selfies with audience members,” he said. “To have such large audiences that showed such enthusiasm for our music was a thrilling experience for our musicians who are, in reality amateurs, and play music for primarily their own enjoyment, not as a career,” he said. The UW-Stout students, in addition to the international experience, also were able to earn up to four academic credits by taking a related class on American and Chinese music. Jazz Project, Chamber Choir perform at universities in China MUSICAL EDUCATION

Hannah Carlson Hometown: Hugo, Minn. Major: Retail merchandising and management Awards, honors: Chancellor’s Award

WORLD

RANKING

Why did you choose UW-Stout? I transferred to UW-Stout as a sophomore and chose the university based on recommendations about the retail program. I had a few other schools in my sights to study retail, but overall the hands-on education and 99 percent placement rate of the retail program won out over all other choices. What stands out among your college experiences? What stands out the most to me has been my involvement with the Stout Retail Association. At my previous university I was not involved on campus at all, but at Stout I was eager to change that. This organization has helped me gain confidence in myself and explore new opportunities and learn so much more about my field than I ever could have imagined. What’s next? My plan is to begin my career at Kohl’s corporate as a product development coordinator in August. During my time off before starting my job I will be traveling to Peru with my good friend and enjoying time with family before moving to Milwaukee. What matters most to me is working for a company that I share values with and that sees the need for sustainable retailing. Awards, honors: First places in 2015, 2016 in national network design competition Why did you choose UW-Stout? I always had an interest in IT and thought that it would make a good major. I decided that I wanted to pursue a major in the networking/server side to IT. I started searching colleges in the Midwest and found out that UW-Stout was one of the few that actually offered a major in this field. This made my choice pretty easy to go to UW Stout. After a tour of the campus, I knew that Stout would be the perfect college for me. What stands out among your college experiences? The Association of Information Technology Professionals puts on a national collegiate competition every year with many different events. I competed with a partner in the network design competition and two years in a row, 2015 and 2016, we won first place. What’s next? I will be working for Marshfield Clinic Information Services in Marshfield as a network engineer. Brandon Wolf Hometown: Unity Major: Information technology management

Magazine lists School of Hospitality Leadership No. 10 he School of Hospitality Leadership at UW-Stout is in exclusive company. In April the school was ranked No. 10 in the world on the list of the 50 best hospitality and hotel management schools by CEOWorld magazine of New York. The magazine considered 300 schools worldwide for the ranking and surveyed more than 18,000 hospitality recruiters and senior managers of luxury hotels worldwide. The 2015 rankings were released the week of April 4, 2016. Three of the top 10 schools were from Switzerland and the other seven from the U.S., giving UW-Stout the No.7 U.S. ranking. Cornell University was ranked No. 1, followed by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and Michigan State. To see the rankings, go to http://bit.ly/29fXvqL . CEOWorld is a business and technology magazine for high-level executives, according to its website. “As we approach our 50 years of hospitality education (in 2018), we are honored to receive this distinguished recognition,” said Kristal Gerdes, director of the school. “It underscores the fact that our students are recognized as leaders in a global hospitality industry. T

#10 in the world of the 50 best hospitality and hotel management schools by CEOWorld magazine

“This recognition supports our commitment to quality education with global perspective addressing diversity, management skills and leadership,” Gerdes added. In 2015, the School of Hospitality Leadership was ranked fifth best in the U.S. by the Successful Student website.

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